Ange Postecoglou slammed VAR’s involvement in the Premier League after his Tottenham Hotspur side were defeated in the North London Derby on Sunday.
Speaking post-match, the Aussie insisted that ‘games are not refereed in the stadium any more. They are refereed somewhere else and no one will convince me otherwise. It’s not even re-refereed, it’s refereed somewhere else.’
‘That’s why I don’t celebrate goals any more. I wait for somebody down the road. I just don’t think referees in the stadium any more have that authority they used to make decisions. They just go ‘you know what, I’ll just wait and see what the bloke down the road thinks’. It’s a shame, I don’t like it but it’s here to stay and I’ve got to accept it like everyone else.’
Arsenal escaped with all three points in N17, having built up a comfortable margin by half-time that was enough to survive a late Spurs comeback at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – and Postecoglou commented that ‘it was a disappointing day for us. It was a big game, a big game for the club, for our fans. We didn’t get the outcome we wanted so obviously very disappointing.’
Embed from Getty Images‘We wanted to win today for our supporters and for the club. We didn’t do that and whatever I think about the performance, it’s still the outcome that sits on you. I thought our general football was good, was decent. We controlled the game for long periods for the most part but we know that. We know we’re a team that can do that.’
Asked how his side progress after a defeat that severely dents their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, he explained that ‘it’s about now, over the course of time, getting from where we are to where we want to get to. To do that, we’re still not absolutely laser focused on the details, the small things that get you from where we are to become a team that contends. Credit to Arsenal, they’re there now. They’re a team that does deal with the details well and we don’t.’
Quizzed as to what those details may entail, Postecoglou replied: ‘Mate, there are thousands. I’m not going to sit here [and tell you them all], but it’s the little details like you can’t give time and space to the opposition, you can’t make decisions or lose focus in any given moment. Even the transition goal, we were focused on a decision at the other end when we should have been thinking about the danger that was potentially at the other side.’
